Harry Potter in Sydney

We left Melbourne this morning and flew to Sydney.  We have been sort of getting the lay of the land.  Since our rooms weren't ready, we walked to the Sydney version of Victoria Market--not like Melbourne's of the same name.  This Victoria Market is like a Melbourne arcade, and we found some lunch.  Then back to the hotel to unpack, visit a grocer, and get set up with internet. (I needed to rent a Vodaphone mobile internet access for this leg of the trip.)

Sydney apparently has the largest IMAX screen in the world, and guess what is showing? Right--I know you read the title pf this post.  Believe me, Hagrid was HUGE on this screen!  Harry Potter is really over:  no more books, and no more films.  We have had a whole series of summers with Harry Potter.  In 2000, we were driving cross country when the fourth book was released.  We found a little book store in Mitchell, SD a few days ahead of the July 8th premier.  The bookseller was very low key and set aside a copy for us.  I read it out loud to everyone over the road noise as we drove.  The sixth book also came with us on a summer vacation, to Acadia National Park in Maine.  The family had me reading that one aloud until I couldn't hold my eyes open any more.  (Right, it must have been past 9pm---but we did spend all day hiking, I earned my sleepiness!)  I remember that one day we got up and realized we would not be able to go anywhere until we finished, so we stayed in cottage and I read.  Dumbledore dies at the end, and Mark still swears that his vacation was ruined.

Seeing the last movie in 3-D on a great big screen was pretty exciting.  I also think it was a nice experience to see it with such an international audience also.

Sydney has a reputation of being a bit more hectic and with less charm than Melbourne.  It is a bigger city population wise and in area.  It's too soon to be certain of its character yet.  It is Sunday after all, and things seemed a bit quiet.

The IMAX theater is at Darling Harbor, which has a boat show at the moment, and this added some glamor to the evening through the boats and the people who own them and came to see them.  It's a few degrees warmer here and definitely feels like spring.

Dinner with Family!

Until this post, it has been a little known fact that I have family in Melbourne.  We have been looking forward to visiting with my (second) cousin Lisa, her husband Lawrence, and daughter Zoe, and today was the day.

The price of bananas!

We met for a get acquainted/reacquainted Japanese noodle lunch near the Victoria Market. John Roy chatted so much his lunch barely looked touched.  Alan made his ramen vanish in no time flat, though. 

You can see the meat hooks near the ceiling.

This market is a wide eyed experience.  It has a 'swap meet' section for merchandise, but it's the food market that really grabs the attention.  There is a green grocer section, a deli section and a fish and meat market section.  Lisa told me that Australia imports very little produce.  It was amazing that there was domestic pineapple in season at the same time as strawberries, rhubarb and asparagus, citrus and apples.  We were there near to the end of the selling day, and the butchers were actively hawking the meat. It was a very old world experience to be able to shop for food this way, and very attractive.  We each selected the meat we wanted to eat for dinner:  sea trout for Lisa, lamb for Mark, Lawrence and myself, a beef sausage for Zoe and rump steak for JR and Alan.  We had a little more time to gawk, and then set out for the train to Lisa & Lawrence's home.

We're still digesting our mixed grill dinner, with greens, fresh chips from the seller down the street, and Lebanese pastry for desert.  We also got to play with Quinn, the labradoodle, and learn a little Japanese from Zoe. Basically, it was just great to spend a Saturday evening in a home with nice conversation, and we are grateful for the hospitality.  We hope they like the Pleasant Valley, New York maple syrup we carried over for a hostess gift.  We also hope we can have a chance to return the dinner sometime.  We are advertising Mark's beer can chicken as an enticement.
This is our last night in Melbourne - Sydney is going to have a lot to do to measure up.  I have really liked this city!

Coffee Tour!

Mark and I spent the morning on a coffee tasting and history tour of Melbourne with the hugely enthusiastic and knowledgeable Maria Paoli (evolvingsuccess.com.au).   Forget about Starbucks, and anyway, Seattle is really a neophyte to the coffee culture compared to Melbourne. Espresso has been made here since the city really began, in the 1850's.  Fueled by an immigrant culture (read: the Italians!), there are hundreds of cafes.  Maria explained that Australia, unlike the USA, does not thrive on developing chains and franchises.  They have more of a boutique sensibility.  We wove our way through cafes on major streets and also in the laneways.  Maria knew everyone.

She even took us into Melbourne's oldest retaurant, Grossi.  It is a beautiful restaurant with a bistro and a dining room.  The dining room had wood paneled walls and paintings, giving it a very old world atmosphere.  While many of the cafes had had a young crowd, this one had an older set enjoying their coffee.  We went upstairs and eventually into the kitchen where Guy Grossi himself was cutting steaks.  This Australian celebrity chef was very gracious to stop, wash his hands and greet us for a few minutes.  I find it exciting to be in a restaurant kitchen.  It's rather like a lab.  Everyone works with care, and areas are well segregated.  This one was extremely clean as well.

Just how much coffee did we drink?  About three espressos each, over the two hours.  The last was in the vestibule of David Jones, one of Mebourne's chicest department stores.  This was the coffee lab, where the coffee is siphoned and then served very cold.  The siphoning is  like distilling and takes seven hours!  Mark stuck with espresso the whole way.  His palate is accustomed to Starbucks and he persistently likes his coffee roasted so dark that is is on the edge of a burnt flavor.  Maria is adamantly against this sort of treatment of the bean.  For my part, I discovered that I like macchiaito.  Maria drinks hers as macchiatone; she is particular about having the foamiest part only to top off her cup.  This gave the coffee a carmel flavor, but definitely not a dairy or milky flavor.  Any barrista in the states would be able to do this for me. 

I haven't been drinking daily coffee for about a year.  It's almost ten hours later and I still feel under the influence!  Mark went back to the meetings for the afternoon.  I felt as though I owed the abandoned boys their choice for the afternoon and they have been yearning for a game of laser tag at the Crown Entertainment Complex across the river.  So, we walked over and I set them up with some games and cash cards for the game arcade.  I spent the next two hours walking and window shopping.  Melbourne may be the only major city in the world where I have some sense of direction.  The horizon over the river looks different from the inland horizon, which helps me.  The central city is laid out in a grid and I am getting used to the names of the streets and their orientation.  The only treacherous part for me is that once I enter an arcade and come out the other side, I have to reason out my orientation again!

The headine in the IBC news today was :  "How cotton was born:  a million year-old mating opens up an improved future."  Think what you will, cotton is a very interesting plant.  Mark says the meetings a winding down.  He's not attending tomorrow since it is really only business.   He'll spend the day with us and sacrifice his chance to vote down Latin.

Gaol, Melbourne Museum and Dinner on Lygon St.

The Melbourne Gaol (pronounced "jail") is a popular attraction and both boys wanted to visit it.  The first part of our visit was experiential.  We were taken to be locked up in the newer part of the gaol which was used up until 1994.  We had a really kind gaoler who didn't yell at us too much.  I still found the experience creepy and sad.  My crimminal identity was Edith Tolleson and I was booked for 'stalking.'  I am pretty sure it was the red tights that were causing the commotion though, and my lawyer could have gotten me out.  Alan's identity was stealing from a jewelery store.  John Roy's was less probably than anyone's:  driving under the influence!

In the slammer.  

 

 

 

There really are padded cells!

The older part of the gaol was even creepier.  It was truly dark and cold.  Almost all of the cells on the three floors had a little exhibit about a criminal.  The hangman's scaffold was at one end of the second floor.  Many of the executed had death masks on display.  Overall, it was a rather dismal set of circumstances to spend the morning contemplating.

Alan in the older gaol.

 The Melbourne Museum was more cheerful.  We learned a lot about the history of the city, some more about aboriginal culture, and then a science exhibit about the brain.  Looking at a display about mental illness was interesting after having just been in the gaol all morning.  When the museum closed, we met Mark for dinner.  We selected the Italian area of town tonight, called Lygon Street.  As we walked down the restaurant lined street, there were people near each menu to entice you to pick their establishment.  I think this must be cold, hard work!  We ate at Sale E Pepe.  They gave us a round of free drinks and 25% off our bill, making the price more like what we would pay in the States.  Everyone liked their dinners, too!  We may head back up there again tomorrow.

When I woke this morning I had that "vacation feeling" where I was really going to have to be selective since we would be leaving an awful lot of this city unexplored. We're about halfway through the trip!

How to Open a Ketchup Packet in AUS

When we landed a week and a half ago, we were exhausted and had a few hours layover until our flight to Brisbane.  We looked for a bite to eat.  Mark had something that needed tomato sauce (ie. ketchup).  He struggled with the packet, it burst open, and suddenly my lap looked like a crime scene.

The same thing happened to Alan earlier this week at the aquarium.  Never fear, John Roy the mechanic took charge, and now all the world (if you have link) can see how to open a ketchup packet in Australia.  It is quite a clever design, actually.  Enjoy!

Gippsland: Chocolate, Koalas, Wine, Cheese and Penguins

We spend some time away from the city today, in Gippsland.  We drove through very fertile land that was very productive but is slowly turning over into suburbs as the population near Melbourne grows.  Our bus tour stopped for lunch in farming town of Kooweerup.  This area was swampland, drained by canals over a hundred years ago, leaving very dark fertile soil that is supportive of asparagus farming.  The earliest farmers here were Dutch and Italian. 

Our next stop was Panny's Chocolate, which mostly supplies to restaurants.  They had a nice, friendly factory display with some novel attractions like Michelangelo's David done in chocolate (except for the addition of a sugared, green, strategically placed fig leaf) and "the world's largest chocolate waterfall."

We stopped at a Koala Sanctuary and walked around the boardwalk trying to spot koalas sleeping in the forks of the trees.  Once we spotted them, we all aimed our cameras.  The photos mostly look like gray blobs since it was cool and the animals heads were tucked in.  It was rather peaceful looking for them, quietly, in the eucalyptus trees.

After crossing to lovely Phillips Island, we had a wine tasting at the Phillips Island Winery, and also sampled five local cheeses.  The landscape was so unusual to my eye.  It is lush and green, as you would expect from a vine bearing region.  There were cattle grazing on the land.  And, the Pacific was on the horizon!  It just didn't feel like we were near the ocean, but we certainly were.

The view from the winery.  That is the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

We left the winery and drove to photograph and view "The Nobbies," and "Seal Rock." 

The highlight of the trip, though, I have no photos of.  Our final and best destination was to see the"Little Penguins,"  come out the ocean at nightfall, and make their way up to the areas where they nest.  Their dark blue feathers and while breasts don't conceal them on the stretch of sand they have to traverse before the sheltering grassy areas.  So, they are adapted to venture out of the sea under cover of dark and in groups.  We sat on bleachers, rather chilled, and peered into the darkness.  We could make out shadows, and then a wave would crest and suddenly a few penguins would appear as the foam receded.  They seemed to get slowly organized, summon their courage, and flock up the beach as hastily as possible.  In my head I was scolding myself not to be so anthropomorphic.  "These birds are wild animals....these birds are wild animals...."  But, they were so darned cute!

Once we left the bleachers and returned to the boardwalk, we could see them up close.  Many have nested under the boardwalk so they are quite accesible for viewing.  Cameras apparently frighten them, so all photography is forbidden and the rangers watch the crowds as closely as the TSA personnel at JFK.  The birds are only 33cm high-- less than 18 inches.  They used to be called "Faerie Penguins,"  but this is now politically incorrect, so "Little Penguin," is the proper common name.  This is the third time I have seen penguins in the wild:  The first was at Punta Tombo in Argentina, last summer I saw them in Ecuador, and now here.  Mark can add South Africa to that list.  And, no snow at any of these locations!

We are tired and content.  The wine and cheese didn't do much to fill up John Roy and Alan. Here is Alan filling up on chicken schnitzel and chips on the way home.  Why don't we call is schnitzel?

Fish, Mark Speaks and a bit of Immigration

Big day-- Mark gave his symposium talk this afternoon.  The other three members of the family trooped over to the Exhibition Center to listen.  Alan even took notes.  We think Mark did a good job.  We haven't seen him yet to tell him so, though.  We slipped out after he had finished answering questions and he is out for dinner with some of his colleagues. Mark spoke about why andromonoecy, the sexual system where plants have both hermaphrodite and male only flowers, is so common in the Apiales.  I may have lost you already.  The Apiales are the plant order that contains celery, carrots, Schefflera, and ginseng.  Mark's been studying it one way or another since graduate school.  Andromonoecy is extremely rare in plants generally, so it is interesting why it is more common in these plants.  Mark tries to solve this mystery through a look at ancestry, plant structure and, of course, reproductive success.

I have been getting teased in the family for predicting when we see a botanist.  Those from Europe and the States may be identified like this:  They usually are men, have beards, are lanky or generally look fit, and carry backpacks or some other gear made of outdoorsy fabric.  The usually do not wear neckties, although there are exceptions.  Leg wear is often khaki, cargo or zip-off.  The botanists from Asia are generally more formal in attire, even wearing suits.  Even though it is 2011, I am afraid that most of the over 2000 scientists here are men.  Overall, I think the South America is far too under represented.  I hope you saw my sense of humor at the start of the paragraph.  But, regarding South America I am pretty serious:  Since there's a huge rainforest facing extinctions every day on that continent, I hope that these meetings will eventually be able to draw colleagues from South America to them.

Lion Fish

Sea Kelp Dragon--the whole thing

Before the talk, the boys and I spent the morning at the Melbourne Aquarium.  Cool fish!  Alan says his favorite was the lion fish.  I liked the sea kelp dragon.   The aquarium was full of very small, loud children, as well as a large group from a seniors home.  John Roy's analysis:   "We have the opposite ends of the spectrum--the very young and the very old.   We also have the same end of the spectrum:  Has trouble walking, has trouble walking."  At any rate, it was a small and interesting aquarium with fish I hadn't seen before.  I always know that JR will like learning about nature, but I was pleasantly surprised that Alan too, had so much enthusiasm.

After Mark's talk the boys and I split up.  They swam at the hotel, while I visited Melbourne's Immigration Museum.  I walked in just an hour or so before closing and commented that I didn't have much time.  The clerk looked me over and asked if I had any concessions.  That translates to, did I belong to any discountable category.  "No, I am not a student, and I am not a pensioner,"  I answered.  "Are you a teacher? " he asked.  "Why yes, I am...but not in Australia; in the States."  "You can go in for free. I'll put you down as an 'overseas' student, since surely you'll learn something while you're in there."  I thought this was very nice.  I also wonder how he knew I was a teacher...

It was interesting to learn about the history of immigration in another country of immigrants.  Just like you might find at Ellis Island in New York, the story of immigration here has lots of successful moments, and also very sad ones, where prejudice has influenced policy.  Even without refugee status, the story of an immigrant is tied to some of a the darkest moments in history.  The museum had lots of artifacts that told the stories in an interesting way.   It is clear that most recent efforts have been directed toward pride in diversity, and also efforts to define Australia as having a place and identity in the Asia-Pacific and not just as a former colony of Britain.  I can sense that this new identity is emerging.

One clever part of the display about traveling here looked like the inside of a ship.  Outside of the display were some very cute portholes.  The portholes had none of the human immigrants depicted, but some of the other immigrants that might have been found in the hold.  I skipped photographing the cockroaches.  Here are two others:

'

The rats are partying. Their porthole caption says "...We go where we want."

This porthole depicts Camellias being shipped from England to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne

The other achievement today was that JR taught us how to use Australian ketchup ('tomato sauce') packets without squirting the red stuff all over our clothing.  I have a great little how-to video from him, but it is taking  too long to load, so that may just have to be a sequel.

Our botany hero has returned to his family.  He has had a good day!

Melbourne City Tour and Window Shopping

City view from the balcony of the Shrine of Remembrance

The boys and I were off on our own bright and early for our city tour.  It was gray and rainy and on our whole big coach bus, there were only a total of six passengers.  We drove around in circles with the very kind and hugely enthusiastic bus driver/tour guide.  Rule #1 in Melbourne:  If you live here, you sincerely love the city, and take a lot of pride in its culture, food, cityscape.  I am interested to see what Rule #1 is when we get to Sydney.

By driving around in circles, we did get a pretty good idea of the neighborhoods and easy to navigate city center.  We were permitted to get off the bus twice.  The first time was to see Capt. Cook's cottage.  It has been bought and moved here and placed in one of Melbourne's many city gardens.  Capt. Cook probably never lived in it-- but his parents did.  The cottage garden was particularly nice in the rain.  The second time we were permitted off the bus was to visit the Shrine of Remembrance.  This was affecting.  Remembrance Day is celebrated on the traditional Armistice Day, just like Veteran's Day in the States.  The Shrine is designed so that at 11am on November 11th, the sun shines directly down a shaft into a crypt to light the memorial which is my second photo above.

Container ships being loaded in Victoria Harbour

After our bus tour, we walked to our river tour.  We boarded a pretty small boat and got to see some of Melbourne from the Yarra River. We had a colorful boat pilot who was full of impartial political commentary. 
One example:  How can the politicians spend tens of thousands of dollars for flags to decorate a bridge, when there are homeless people who live under the bridge?  We did see his point.

Both John Roy and I were totally fascinated with the view of the container ships from the water.  They are massive, and being loaded with huge cranes.  The longshoremen who work the cranes earn quite a salary-- those in training make over $90,000 AUS a year.  They are only permitted to work the crane for one hour out of their shift.  They load the container to "within a centimeter" of precision.  It would be a disaster at sea for the cargo to shift even a bit.  We're wondering what a crane operator does for the rest of the shift?  Plan the load?  Paperwork?  Tea and biscuits?  We also learned that it is nearly impossible to get this work unless you have a family member or close friend who can put a word in for you.  The waiting list for training is four years.  Operating the crane seems like good work for a video game trained generation.  It is sort of like robot surgery on the opposite size scale.

I haven't mentioned what fascinated Alan.  It was his book.  He read the whole time on both tours.  Then he worried about how he was going to manage without the third book in the series.  So, after our tours, we headed towards lunch and a bookshop.  Lunch was in Chinatown, where we somehow ended up eating Japanese.  We got directions to a bookstore and Alan has the last three books in the Percy Jackson series so he doesn't have to be afraid of getting caught without a volume for the rest of the trip.  I hope.

Visitors to Melbourne are supposed to "shop 'til you drop," and we at least window shopped until we dropped for the rest of the afternoon.  The charm of the city is that it has arcades.  Melbourne has really wide streets--wide enough for a horse and dray to make a U-turn.  In spite of this planning, it also had very muddy and refuse clogged streets in those days.  The arcades were built like 19th century malls to keep ladies out of the muddy streets.  You can spontaneously turn down one and find dozens of little shops, and wind your way through to the other side of the block.  Laneways (ie. alleys) also can carry this pleasure of discovery and adventure.  The only trouble is. the merchandise we saw today was very expensive.  Alan came out of his book while we were walking, and he really liked the fashion he saw. He had sticker shock, though, and asked, "Don't they have a store like Target?" If they do, we didn't see it where we were today. 

JR got sick of the stores so we sent him back to the hotel on his own.  He got lost and had a good time discovering his way back.  He just told me he is proud of himself for this adventure.  I think its pretty cool that he did well with his free-range time.

St. Michael's Church:  I just thought it was pretty.

Mark had a good day too. I was fascinated by the news from the slick, short newspaper the conference publishes everyday.  An attention getting headline this morning:  "Science and religion agree- again...botany drops Latin."  It has taken 25 years of discussion, but new species, while still being named in Latin, will no longer have to have their technical descriptions in Latin when published.  Even more interesting to me:  It will also be acceptable to have the publication of a new species be in a paper that is is only electronic.  Some journals are only e-copies, and never paper.  By expanding the acceptable methods, the naming of new species will speed up, and this is important when the earth is facing a mass extinction.  The new policy will also level the playing field for botanists from developing countries where page charges plus the Latin were making publication very difficult.  So, in 2012, botanists are modernizing.  There is an aspect of botany that has a clear archival bend, considering the care that is taken to preserve specimens in herbaria.  Having botanists decide that electronic archives are safe for the written word is very significant.

We wandered out for a nice dinner and shared the day's adventures with each other.  It was rather refreshing to have two versions of the day--three if you count JR's adventures getting lost.  I am trying very hard to get Alan to eat something green.  I think he had a slice of kiwi from Mark's dessert garnish...not quite what I was aiming for, but tomorrow is a new day!

If They'd had Steak, I Wouldn't have had this Necklace

 We left our great little hotel in Cairns this morning.  We really liked staying with them.  Billie, Irene and Neville were excellent at the reception desk, doing all the booking for us and giving us sound and friendly advice.

We had planned to eat at the hotel restaurant last night.  Mark was lured by the signs hung up advertising $10 steak.  But, by the time we were ready to eat, the steak was sold out, so we decided to return to the Esplanade one more time for dinner.  It ended up being a good thing. Mark and John Roy found steak, Alan found a burger and I found a salad...and then after dinner, I also found this stone!

 

I do realize that "found" was only one of the verbs necessary for me to be wearing this new necklace today.  The stone is Australian, though from Tasmania, a part of the country that we are not visiting. It is green and purple and a little black.  The green comes from serpentine, the purple is called stichtite.  I haven't ever seen a stone with these crazy colors before.

We flew to Melbourne on the discount carrier JetStar and had a pretty uncomfortable flight with loads of crying, screaming children and crowded conditions.  This drove Alan, in particular, crazy.  We are in the big city now, and need to acculturate.   Melbourne is colder--maybe only in the 50's at best.  It is damp and gray and busy.  So is was like leaving Key West on a fine, low humid day, and landing in New York City in March. 

I

Mark has registered for the conference (IBC, stands for International Botanical Congress) and  is getting excited.  One of the reasons that the flight was uncomfortable for him was that wasn't able to locate his talk on his flash drive.  He had two CD's burned with it, and JR and I were each carrying one.  Until we got here, though, he wasn't able to look at the CD's to be reassure himself that the talk was on them.  All is well now, and he will be able to rehearse tomorrow before his big afternoon on Tuesday.

We had pizza and salad for dinner in a casino complex a block or so from our hotel.  We also did a little grocery shopping since we have an efficiency.  It is fun to look for foods in another country.  More options for unflavored yogurt than in the States!  And the lactose-free milk came in a shelf stable package, but not  in the dairy section.  Pink Lady apples are grown here--and their season would be finished back at home. The boys chose Weetabix for cereal--who knew it came in different flavors?

Tjapukai and the Best Gelato in the World (so far...)

Tjapukai is an experiential museum of the aborigine culture in this area.  The particular group of people, as we learned, had a huge territory that stretched from the reef to inland over the mountain range into the rainforest.  We heard and learned about the didgeridoo, an instrument that sort of sounds like a mouth harp, but is actually made from a very long, hollow piece of timber.  We heard a creation story in the native language that was translated to use through headsets--a pretty good idea.  We saw dancing, and fire being made from friction fire sticks.  And, all three boys tried spear throwing and boomerang throwing.  None were any good at the spears, but JR got the boomerang to come at least partway back to him.  We also got to hear about the uses of native plants.  We had a good time-- it seemed important to try to spend a little time getting to know more than just the Euro-Australian culture while we are here.

Some dance

Lighting a fire

Spear throwing with a tool something like the Native American adle-adle

We have had a very lazy afternoon. With all the other activities, we hadn't walked around Cairns very much.  The city has a man-made lagoon that sort of serves as a plaza and a beach.  Today, as it was Saturday, there were hoards of people lying in the sun and kids and adults dipping in the lagoon to cool off.  It sort of looked like a family friendly version of a college campus in the late spring.  The atmosphere is so relaxed and subdued.  I am sure there are wild parties somewhere, but it seemed very calm and rated G this afternoon.

We found the best gelato in the world.  We passed up a chance for New Zealand gelato, since Mark wanted to hold out for Australian.  I hope what we found was Australian. The stand was called Vanilla and all the flavors had a little extra kick that made them taste like the real fruit.  I had pink grapefruit and chocolate in my dish.

Our hotel is across from a fabulous children's park.  It had really active structures, some water play areas and a sandy beach like surface.  JR had been hankering to check out how the wheelchair accessible swing worked, so we strolled over.  Mark and I ended up leaving the boys there for another hour.  We thought our playground days were done, but no!  Once the little kids found that there were two teenagers who would play with them, they sort of developed a little playgroup. I liked the tiles that were made by children and think Genevieve's turtle was particularly nice.

Ups and Downs on the Great Barrier Reef

We had our day on the reef, yesterday. We had chosen a pretty big outfitter to go with since they had lots of activities on their schedule. But the trip had a few ups and downs. The boys were not able to do a beginner dive due to some medications being contraindicated. We aren't sure that means never, ever, but the outfit wouldn't clear it for this trip. That was a disappointment.

I like snorkeling and find it very easy and relaxing. The photos, of course, are not very interesting, since all the sites are below the surface. Mark and I have snorkeled together in three interesting places: Belize, Galapagos, and now here. The coral in Belize, at least 20 years ago when I was last there, was much more colorful. Galapagos is subdued-- the highlights for me there were getting an underwater look at turtles, penguins and sea lions. The fish on the Barrier Reef yesterday, were the highlight. Although the coral was not vibrant at all, the fish diversity was amazing and they had all the riotous color that I have never seen on land, no matter how hard an artist tries to mix the shades.

The boys did not spend very long snorkeling. Even with a wet suit, they got cold fast. (The water was in the low 70's F.) They did like the semi-submersible and the underwater viewing room on the platform. And, Alan was the photographer, so while Mark and I went in for an hour or so after lunch, he was on deck taking some photos of us. These are rare photos since we don't have an underwater camera and only sometimes can snap photos of each other before going in!


We had another down on the way back to land when I got sick. Maybe seasick or maybe it was that so-so dinner the night before. Not to dwell, but being seasick on a big catamaran with hundreds of people was more painful from embarrassment than anything else. I stayed in last night and slept, and am sipping a morning mug of tea now, so have optimism for the new day ahead.

Kuranda by Railway and Cableway

We used two very different modes of transportation for today's adventure.  Our destination was Kuranda, a mountain town that is known for its markets.  The trips to and from, though, were the real highlights of the day.

We traveled the 21 mile trip to Kuranda on the Kuranda Scenic Railway.  It is a narrow gauge railroad built to make travel to a gold mining region much easier in the 1880's.  We had one brief stop at the Barron Gorge, to take a few photos.  The air was clear and a very pleasant temperature as we rose up the 1,076ft ascent.  The staff were extraordinarily pleasant, coming through the cars at one point to take photos of passengers with their own cameras.


In Kuranda, we had hoped to be able to walk through the rainforest a bit  It didn't work out as planned, in part because we were not persistent in finding the trails, and in part because the boys got interested (and eventually we did too) in souvenir shopping.  Three of us had meat pies for lunch--my first ever, although it seems like I have been reading books in which the characters eat meat pies, for as long as I can remember.  JR ate two-- steak & bacon, and kangaroo.  He feels a great deal of remorse over this last one, especially when he remember our day at Lone Pine.  I actually thought he had the right sense of adventure!  Kangaroo, emu, and crocodile meat haven't been hard to find on menus.

Alan made friends with all the pet  dingos in town--or at least the three of them that he was able to find.  Today was also characterized by Alan reading--all day.  He read on the train, and he found benches in Kuranda to sit and read, while other family members shopped.  We finally stopped for tea late in the afternoon and let him finish the last few pages of The Lightening Thief, without having to move.  He had even brought the sequel with him for the day, and started that on the bus transfer back to the hotel.  He passed the first book along to his brother, so they were both readers on that last leg of the trip.

To descend back to sea level from Kuranda, we took the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, and at least for Mark and me, this was the highlight of  the day.  The cableway is high!  It spans the 4.5miles from Kuranda down to its station a few miles away from Cairns city center.  We had a spectacular view of the rainforest from the unique vantage point of above the canopy.  There are two stops for look-out and a guided tour of the rainforest.  The dominant tree is the Kauri pine, although many of the largest were struck for timber in the last century.  The Kauri is interesting because although it is a pine, and therefore a conifer, it has broad leaves.  Needles would not give such a large plant enough surface area to photosynthesize in the dark rainforest, so the broad leaves are an adaptation for increased light capture.



We had a so-so dinner at a trendy seafood restaurant.  The strange feature was that they showed silent fishing film footage in the dining room.  It was a bit unappealing to be waiting for a fish meal and watching a monitor show bloody fish being hauled out of the water, or fish swimming into underwater traps.  Alan had steak, and there were no movies about feedlots.  A local patron stopped by our table, cheerfully complimented the boys on their patience, described herself as the mother of three young adult sons, and suggested a particular meat & potatoes place in town for tomorrow.  As much as Mark and I have been enjoying the seafood, we may take her advice!

For photos today, I am trying to upload to Animoto.  It is taking a really long time, and I need sleep. So, I am posting text now, and will finish up photos in the morning.

Morning postscript: It literally took all night to make the Animoto. I got up around 4:30am to check on it, finish and then let it render while I went back to sleep. Saw a typo at the end and this will have to stay since I don't have all day to fix it! Other than that, I am pleased with the result, so I hope you enjoy.

Leaving Brisbane for Cairns

Before we left Brisbane this morning, we had a little time to walk around the South Parklands.  We rode "The Brisbane Wheel," to see the city.  Right in the shadow of the wheel, though, was a Nepalese Pagoda!

 We spent a little time looking at its intricately carved surfaces.  If I were a writing teacher in Brisbane, I would take my students here for some place based inspiration.

The wheel was pretty fun too.

We are now in Cairns.  It is warm and a bit more humid here. It's a beach resort town and it is also in close proximity to a cloud forest.  That will be our destination for tomorrow.

Marsupials and a Nice River Cruise

When I was in seventh grade, it was a great fashion at Hollis Middle School, to wear a small koala.  There were springs in its paws so you could clip the toy onto a sweater or a collar.  I held onto that accessory for a long time, only purging it when I had to pack up the last boxes before Mark and I married.  So, when we planned this trip, we started by researching good places to see koala.  We came to Brisbane because the oldest koala sanctuary is here.  Founded in 1927, it houses many of Australia's native animals.

 To get to the sanctuary, we took a river cruise on the Brisbane River.  The riverbank is low and accessible.  It is prime real estate for river front home, and they were all unique and expensive.  While we were suffering through a rough winter, Brisbane suffered through its third worse historical flood, leaving many without power or homes.  Evidence of the damage is still apparent.  Until recently, the river bed was dredged every few years to support a cement producer.  The city council has banned dredging now because of fear that the dredging was making the water cloudy-- easy to imagine that and more as an impact of regular dredging.  Power to all the graduate students who can earn degrees studying the recovery of the river bottom ecosystem.

When we arrived at the sanctuary, we looked for koala first. Koala, like the kangaroo and wallaby, are marsupials.  Wherever they were when Gondwanaland broke up, Australia has the diversity.  In the Americas we have only the opossum to represent this order of mammal.  Not quite so charming.

So, what does it feel like to hold a koala?  Like holding a sleeping baby.  They are a little bottom heavy and have long nails on their claws the entwine in clothing.  Only when the staffer transfers the koala can you see the fuller abdomen where the pouch is.  The koala did always look up at the person holding her.  I anticipated a menthol eucalyptus smell, but there wasn't really any scent at all.  The koalas can be held for 30 minutes a day tops, and get every fourth day off, by law. 

We headed off to the kangaroo and wallaby enclosure after our photo session.  Alan's enthusiasm won over the clerk at the gift shop and she passed him a complimentary bag of kangaroo food.  JR found a bag on the grass on the way to the enclosure, so we were well provisioned for these animals.  I remember petting zoos from my childhood as has having really aggressive goats, dirty sheep and spitting llamas.  The kangaroos were nothing like this.  They were pretty slow moving, willing to eat and be petted, but also enjoying rest in the shade.  They had an enclosure away from people if they wanted to retreat. John Roy spent quite a lot of time patiently with one particular wallaby.  Alan and I made friends with everyone. There were also two emus in the field.  They are like ostrich and had narrow and rather greasy feathers.  I think we spent about half of our time with these animals. 

In the more zoo like area, we were pretty fascinated with the Tasmanian devils. I called these "ugly beautiful," and Alan got offended.  We also spoke to a zoo keeper who told us about the effort to save the Tasmanian devil by removing them from the wild for a time to let a tumor causing pathogen die out.  It's a tricky business, but it may be the best chance for this animal.  Because they are scavengers, they may be better able to return to the wild with the skills necessary to survive, even if they have been reared in captivity.  But the black footed ferret, in the US, had trouble understanding how to mate when that species was returned to the wild after its captive breeding program.

The other awesome Australian animal is the duck billed platypus.  We'd never have had a chance to see this in the wild because they are so retiring.  It was impossible to still photograph them with my little camera, but I did get a quick movie.

After our return cruise, we set out to cross a fascinating Kurilpa pedestrian/bicycle bridge into the city of Brisbane in search of a couple of cell phones.  We met success and you can now call us in Australia--if we give you the number.  Really, we are just anticipating Melbourne when Mark will be at meetings and the boys and I will have a different schedule.  So far, Alan hasn't lost any either phone, but we have only had them for 12 hours, so we'll see.

We also got a recommendation for a place to eat steak for dinner.  The young clerks at Vodaphone store were very helpful and enthusiastic about our visit.  They recommended that we eat at the Caxton Street Hotel which has 2-4-1 steak dinners on Tuesday night. Apparently it is a famous place where what looked like a pretty hip, mostly 20-something crowd, dressed in black, white and gray, goes to eat, drink and watch Rugby. Sometimes they go out in the streets and have riots after the rugby matches.  ("Like after your Stanley Cup," the clerk took pains to explain.  "That was in Canada this year," I returned.  "And they thought the riots were mostly out-of-towners."  The clerk then reminded me that in the famous kiss photo, the man was an Aussie.  OK.)

We had a long walk to Caxton Street, ate a nice steak dinner at a 2-4-1 price, and took a taxi back to South Brisbane and our beds.  No riots.  Just a few good night kisses.